A Bittersweet Snow Day
by celestialwhisperer
Summary: On the one weekday that month Max has her daughter, snow makes a surprise appearance. Join Max as she tries to make her daughter happy using Christian Bale, parkour, and snow people. When she has to return her daughter to her ex-husband, Fang, she finds herself cherishing the bittersweet moments she spends with her family. (DISCONTINUED)


**Sorry in advance for this, but I was feeling in the mood to write a divorce/snow day fanfiction. It's a snowy few days here in the Carolinas, and I was spending the weekend inside with my dad (who is divorced) watching the Christian Bale "Batman" movies. Boda-bing-boda-boom and suddenly INSPIRATION.**

 **Another apology for those waiting for me to update my other stories, I've been busy in school with MID-TERMS! Also there's been some boy drama but oh well. Boys will be boys. But I promise to update my other stories soon, as long as you children are patient.**

 **So… moral of this public service announcement? Be patient and don't trust boys with cute faces.**

 **SPOILER ALERT: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! (also this fanfiction is in an alternate universe, like most of my stories)**

"Mama, why does Christian Bale talk so weird?"

Max laughed Phoenix's curiosity. She was just too darn cute. "Fifi, Christian Bale is from Australia so when he talks like an American, his mouth just looks different when he speaks."

Phoenix simply shrugged and turned to face the TV just in time to see Bane break Batman's back.

Max worried that the movie would be too adult for the nine year old, but no one would know. Phoenix's father certainly wouldn't.

They had divorced six years after Phoenix's birth. Fang had claimed that Max had shut him out for so long that he didn't even know who she was anymore. Max had counterclaimed that Fang's constant need to peer over her shoulder was what really ended their relationship. In the end, they settled their dispute in a court of law. Fang won the house but Max won the car.

When it came to their custody agreement, Max got Phoenix one weekend and one weekday every month and Fang got her the rest of the time. This weekday happened to be that such weekday of the month.

To Max's dismay, it had begin to snow the day before Phoenix came over. The blonde had always hated snow, ever since she was a kid. Of course her daughter was the complete opposite.

The moment Max had opened the door, Phoenix had dashed between her legs, dumped her schoolbag in her room, ran back outside and belly flopped into the snow. If it had been a regular day, Phoenix would have been learning long division in school, so she was happy for the snow day.

The girl stayed out there for hours, building small snowmen with eyes made of the buttons from her coat and mountains of misshapen snowballs freckled with dirt and blades of grass. Finally Max called Phoenix inside, and after much protest from Phoenix about leaving her snow children outside, managed to calm her down with the first Christian Bale "Batman" movie.

Five hours later and Phoenix was entranced with the third movie in the series.

Max watched from where she stood washing dishes as her daughter catapulted off their green couch and began to shoot fake bullets from her fingers at Bane. "Pow, pow, pew!"

Max smiled. Phoenix was such a tomboy.

She watched Phoenix prance around the living room in a black cape, pretending to do parkour off the furniture.

Phoenix crouched on the arm of the sofa, preparing to launch across the room at the TV stand. She realized too late that she had miscalculated how far she would jump and would smash into the TV.

Moments before impact, Phoenix felt a pair of hands around her hips pull her away from the TV. She looked up to find her mother holding her, a sigh of relief escaping her lips. "Slow down, Batgirl. It's time to go back to your dad's house."

Phoenix pouted. "Mama I don't want to go. Daddy won't let me watch Batman!"

Max set her daughter down on the couch. "Speaking of, don't let Dad know that I let you watch those movies. He might get mad at Mommy."

Phoenix drew her fingers over her lips, pretending to zip them.

Max laughed and patted Phoenix on the head. "Go get your schoolbag and I'll drive you home."

Ten minutes later, Max was seated in her car watching Phoenix say individual goodbyes to her numerous snowmen.

The young mother simply sighed before grabbing her phone.

 **To: Fang**

 **We might be a few minutes late.**

Seconds after Max sent the text she got a reply.

 **From: Fang**

 **Why? It's snowing harder outside, I want Fifi home before she's snowed in at your place.**

Max rolled her eyes. Her apartment wasn't the worst place for a child to spend the night.

 **To: Fang**

 **She's saying goodbye to the snowmen she made. You might want to by her a new coat; she used the buttons from her old one for eyes.**

Max watched as Phoenix accidentally knocked over one of the snowmen and tried to put him back together.

 **From: Fang**

 **Tell her if she doesn't get her patootie into the car that she can say goodbye to dessert tonight.**

Max smirked before rolling down the car window. "Fifi, your daddy says that if we don't drive home right now that you won't get any dessert tonight."

Quicker than the Flash, Phoenix was in the car and buckled into her car seat.

After a ten minute ride listening to Radio Disney, Max was relieved to be out of the car. She held Phoenix's hand as she walked her daughter up to the front door.

Max smiled at the sight of her old home. Fang had replaced the soft green wood paneling with brick, and Max could see a new chimney sprouting from the roof.

Only moments after Max knocked, the door was swung open to reveal Fang. He scooped Phoenix into a hug before turning to face Max.

"How was she today?" he asked.

"She was an angel." Max replied, winking at her daughter. Phoenix attempted to wink back, but it looked more like her eyes were blinking at different times.

Fang didn't notice this interaction, however. He was more focused on the increasing amount of snow falling. "You should hurry back, Max. I don't want you stuck on the roads."

Phoenix grinned devilishly. "Mommy doesn't have to go! She can stay with us!"

"No, no, no-" Max and Fang said in unison as Phoenix said "Yes, yes, YES!" even louder.

Phoenix wiggled her way out of her father's arms before looking up at him with large, tragic eyes.

Fang scowled. "No, no, no. What did I tell you about puppy eyes?"

Max watched in amusement as Phoenix stuck out her bottom lip and made her eyes even larger.

Fang's resolve weakened visibly. "Well, if it's only for one night…"

Phoenix cheered as Fang rolled his eyes before turning to Max. "I'll make up the couch for you to sleep on tonight."

Max smiled as a thank you and entered the house.

"I'll give you a tour!" Phoenix shouted, excited that her parents were in the same room and not fighting.

"Fifi, your mom knows what the house looks like. She lived here." Fang said while he got sheets from the linen closet.

Phoenix's smile fell. "Oh."

Wanting to keep her daughter happy, Max spoke up. "Why don't you choose a movie for us to watch?"

Phoenix beamed eagerly. She dashed out of the room only to return a moment later with "Pocahontas" in her hands. "This has Christian Bale in it, right?"

Max laughed at Fang's look of confusion. "Yup, sweetheart."

"GREAT!" Phoenix inserted the disk into the DVD player before situating her parents on either side of the sofa, with her in between them.

Max turned to face Fang as the Disney logo appeared onstage, distracting their daughter. She was surprised to see that Fang was facing her too, a soft smile adorned on his face.

 _What a bittersweet moment._ Max thought.

She was right. It was sweet because this moment reminded her of so many similar moments where the threesome would sit on this very couch and watch Disney movies together. It was bitter as well because Max knew this would be the last of these evenings. She knew that Phoenix would grow up and not need her mother around anymore. She also knew that one day her family would stop inviting her inside her old home to watch movies, and that would be the bitterest day of her life.

But for now, Max would cherish this bittersweet moment for as long as she could.

Or at least as long as the movie was.

 **AHHHHH don't kill me for divorcing Max and Fang! I just really wanted to write this!**

 **Anyways, I have a request to ask of you all! I was wondering that if some if you readers were artistically talented (unlike me), that maybe you could draw some FANART for this story or for any of my other stories! I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting feedback from you guys! I especially love FANART! My friend made one for my other fanfiction a few weeks ago and I LOVED it!**

 **If I get enough FANART, I will turn this one shot into a MULTICHAPTER story! And my FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE FANART will be used as this story's cover image (with the consent of the artist).**

 **To submit your art, Private Message me the art or a link to the art, and if you have any problems you can pm me and I will just give you my email!**

 **I'm making the deadline for this February 14** **th** **, Valentine's Day!**

 **I can't wait to see your art!**

 **-cw**


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